Religion has played many roles throughout history. Like civilization it has evolved to fit the needs of the people for whom it serves. As a society it is easy to see the benifits that religion has brought along the way. likewise, it is easy to see the downfalls of religion. nonetheless, religion has had a lasting effect however good or bad.
Now, at the dawn of the 21st century hasn’t it become time to finally get rid of that rusty old screwdriver, and pick up our new power drill. religion accomplishes lots of tasks, but why not go right for the sorce.
I don’t think its a question of faith. If that were the case, religion wouldn’t need its handy books, ancient relics, and elitist hierarchy. The real chain that holds us back is our unwillingness to let go of that sence of magesty that god entales. religion gives us a sence of purposs and duty. god represents the ultimate order, the beauty, that all life searches for. we can’t let go , becuase we know we will lose a part of our self in the process. Its the kid who catches his parents putting presents under the tree and understands christmas will never be the same
Religion is the easy way out. It makes everything simple, it creates order out of chaos. But the truth is life is complex, and the meaning that we long for is just a dream.
but that is the miracle, life is held on a fragile balance, preserving itself in a harsh and unforgiving universe. life lives to do that very task, live! In the process we gain understanding of the world that birthed us. The problem is the mysteries of the universe are difficult to understand, but are meant to be discovered, not manifested.
Actually its rather funny that you should mention such a thing. The age of current mainstream religions is technically up in accordance to astrology. The Age of Pisces is almost/ or is up depending on which calendar your looking at. The age of Aquarius is coming and shall rise a new way of thinking in accordance to philisophical thinking and religion.
But if one believes in God, and one begins to contemplate all that God must be, and one begins to see the ineffable nature of God, then religion, as a means of experiencing something of this God, in perhaps the only ways possible, through ritual and sacrament and prayer and meditation and fellowship, and all the things that religion is and can be, doesn’t lose its relevance at all. In fact, it’s relevance becomes clearer.
I believe you are mistaken if you assume our limited ability to perceive life’s impressions can be compensated for through reason that is equally limited in its scope.
If you feel the need for experience from the recognition of your limited ability for perception, it is better, IMO, to practice being open to experience rather than the analysis of imagination.
one of the main problems with both modern science and religion is mans agenda for self gain. if one gained understanding purely for the betterment of society, then the goal is easily attainable through reasoning aided by future computational devices, provided that information has some form of objectivity.
Imagination is what takes the place of our limited perception and fills in the gaps. If we could perceive from the whole of ourselves and including reason, as human beings, Imagination would not have the hold on us that it does. The ancient traditions at their source which you frown on call this condition: “sleep.” Then the question becomes: What value is reason for a sleeping man?
Who is your audience? The atheists obviously don’t need your message, and the believers don’t think God is a social construct or tool in the way you describe.
I don’t know how i’m suppossed to answer that question.
my point is that religion is at heart just a grand narrative that does less to answer the fundamental question and more to shift focus from that of the physical to the metaphysical